


stupid cupid

by boyeater



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Sharing a Bed, a cameo from jeno's glasses, donghyuck has a big fat crush on jeno, jaemin and hyuck are bffs because you cannot take them away from me, that is the most important part of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 01:07:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21007175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boyeater/pseuds/boyeater
Summary: You see, that’s the thing about this. You say one incriminating thing at a frat party and Na Jaemin makes it his life’s calling to become fucking Cupid.





	stupid cupid

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jjaeniel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjaeniel/gifts).

> happy birthday brother :D it's my second time posting a birthday fic for you! who can top that. i love all jam and non-jams equally. for non-jams, welcome to jam’s birthday bash. he's 20! noo jam don't graduate from nct dream you're soo sexy aha

It’s one thing to do a favor for a friend out of the goodness of your heart, but it’s a completely different thing to have a friend throw you under the bus and ask for a thank you. 

“Na Jaemin, I’m going to _ murder _you.”

And Jaemin, that bastard, he has the nerve to laugh and nudge Donghyuck in the ribs with his elbow, only half-listening to him as he taps away on his phone. “Really? Will you say thank you after that?” 

“_ No. _” Donghyuck hisses, jabbing an accusing finger at Jaemin’s chest and making violent motions with his free hand. Donghyuck stands tall and squares his shoulders, almost stomping on Jaemin’s shoes as he paces around in a small circle of red, hot rage, “I’m going to murder you and after that I’m going to murder you again.” 

“Uh-oh,” Jaemin pockets his phone after snapping a quick picture of Donghyuck, flash and all, catching Donghyuck’s hand and poking at Donghyuck’s cheek with his pointer finger. He’s not taking Donghyuck seriously at all, is he? Jaemin puckers his lips, pinching Donghyuck’s cheeks, and coos, “I think _ someone _is a little grouchy!” 

And Donghyuck, honest to God, growls a little, short temper flaring just the slightest and snapping at Jaemin’s hand, trying to bite and missing Jaemin’s finger by an inch. Donghyuck breathes in a long breath, but it does nothing to soothe his blind rage—and at this point, Donghyuck would probably be a little afraid of himself, but Jaemin? Jaemin isn’t afraid of _ anything _ . “ _ Someone _ is going to kill you in your _ sleep _.”

Jaemin hardly blinks, only turning to the boy to Donghyuck’s right, same charming smile on his face, “Say, isn’t Hyuck just as cute as a button when he’s angry?” 

And that reminds Donghyuck of why he should kill Jaemin and spit on his grave. 

“I don’t know, Jaemin, I think he might actually do it.” 

Donghyuck closes his eyes for a moment, finding the patience to not actually choke someone. 

Lee Jeno. 

Jeno had stayed silent for most of the last 5 minutes, only listening as Donghyuck made death threats and Jaemin laughed, but now that he’s been addressed, he talks freely, almost like he and Jaemin are actually friends and they’re both in on a secret that Donghyuck doesn’t know. He sounds casual, carefree, like this is all just something he does all the time. A big grin stretches across Jeno’s lips and he looks a little like a bumbling fool, smiling dumbly at Donghyuck after all that’s come from his mouth, but he looks more like an angel, sunlight shining down on him prettily as he laughs with Jaemin, and it makes Donghyuck forget what he’s so upset about. (Only for a moment). Jeno looks at Donghyuck now, and his smile seems to soften just a little around the corners, but maybe it’s only the sun blinding Donghyuck and making him see things. Jeno’s voice lowers to a mumble, talking more to himself than to anyone, but Donghyuck feels like he’s going to die from how warm his cheeks suddenly feel. “Cute, though.”

And Lord have mercy on his soul, Donghyuck can’t even run back to his dorm and scream into his pillow. 

Maybe you’re asking yourself, oh, Donghyuck, why not? Oh, you’ll find out.

Donghyuck crosses his arms, just shameless and upset enough to not mind how Jeno’s hand follows the movement and is now hanging lifelessly across his arm. Donghyuck looks past Jeno and shoots daggers at Jaemin, listing off all the ways he’s going to get Jaemin back after this in his head, “You think I look cute now? I promise I’ll look even cuter with my hands around your _ throat.” _

A boy that walks past them goes red in the face. 

Jeno giggles.

“Kinky, I like it.” Jaemin smiles, sickly sweet, and maybe if he didn’t know Jaemin so well, Donghyuck would have fallen for the act, but Donghyuck can see the glimmer of mischief in Jaemin’s eyes, and it is as clear as day. Jaemin really thinks he’s just so funny, doesn’t he? Jaemin runs a hand through his hair and stretches as if he’s had a long day when Donghyuck knows for a fact that Jaemin just woke up an hour ago and all he’s done since is antagonize him. 

Jaemin’s eyes light up with amusement. 

“Oh, calm down, Hyuck.” Jaemin smiles, “You’re only going to be handcuffed together for 24 hours.”

God save his soul, Donghyuck is really going to kill him.

Na Jaemin, that bastard, Donghyuck can see the unmistakable self-satisfaction in his eyes—Jaemin thought it would just be absolutely lovely if Donghyuck was _ handcuffed _ to _ Lee Jeno _for 24 fucking hours.

Lee Jeno, the picture perfect campus heartthrob, the Adonis of the architecture program, a living, breathing dream with his stupid bright smile and stupid glittery eyes and stupid nice personality and stupid cute instagram that Donghyuck has seen two girls stalk at the library. You know, _ that _ Lee Jeno, the Jeno that Donghyuck admitted once— _ once _ when he was _ drunk _—that he thought was cute. 

You see, that’s the thing about this. You say one incriminating thing at a frat party and Na Jaemin makes it his life’s calling to become fucking Cupid and shoot you in the ass with a plastic bow and arrow taken from a shitty Halloween costume and a pair of sparkly pink handcuffs.

And boy, oh boy, Jaemin really got him good.

It was just a golden opportunity. It’s something that only happens in the movies and if, by chance, it does happen in real life, it’s a once in a lifetime thing, a cliche at its finest.

Donghyuck didn’t even know you could actually do this kind of shit in real life—this whole you and I are going to be tied to each other for the whole day thing. Donghyuck always thought it was just some made up trope in shitty fanfiction and B-rate romance movies, but here they are, right? Here they fucking are, handcuffed to each other for some project that Jaemin is doing for his communications class—now that Donghyuck is thinking about it though, does Jaemin even take communications?

And Donghyuck, like the good, innocent friend he is, he had said okay to being Jaemin’s little lab rat. Now, if Jaemin had told him from the start that his partner would be Lee Jeno, Donghyuck would have run for the hills and not looked back, but Jaemin, like the scheming, calculating anti-hero he is, had known better. Jaemin had simply said it would be a stranger. And Donghyuck, clueless and swayed by sugar, was promised a vanilla milkshake, and who was he to say no to that?

But all is said and done, milkshake downed and hero compromised, and Donghyuck is still handcuffed to Lee Jeno, and for crying out loud, Jeno is actually a lot cuter up close.

Absolutely lovely.

It’s 20 minutes later, after Jaemin made some shitty excuse and ditched Donghyuck, bro code and years of friendship completely ripped in half and tossed into the trash can in the corner of the room, that Jeno turns to Donghyuck, after minutes of silence, and knocks the back of his hand against Donghyuck’s. 

Donghyuck thinks it’s just an accident, or a spasm, so he doesn’t say anything, but Jeno does it again, and again, faking a cough this time too, so Donghyuck looks up, brow arched. “Something you want to say?”

“What? Oh, yeah. So, uh, since we’re going to be handcuffed together all day long…” Jeno starts, scratching the back of his head lightly and wringing the hem of his shirt in his hands. It looks like a nervous habit, and Donghyuck almost coos, really, softening up just a little—what Jeno has to be nervous about, though, is lost on Donghyuck. All Donghyuck knows is that really, Jeno has nothing to worry about. Whatever it is that he’s going to ask for, who would say no to someone like him? 

Donghyuck blinks. 

Jeno’s face looks a little red. 

“How about a 24 hour date?” 

Oh. 

Donghyuck would think he’s just kidding, really, but this is Jeno, and Donghyuck hasn’t known him for that long, but from the looks of it, Jeno’s not someone who would toss words around for the hell of it—words that actually _ mean _something. 

“A date?” Donghyuck tests the word, “Like an actual date?”

Jeno nods, and oh my god, he’s blushing, isn’t he? “Yes.” 

“For 24 hours?” Donghyuck catches himself grinning, laughing at the thought of it, and Jeno mirrors him, smile big and bright and cheeks just as red. Donghyuck crosses his arms again, this time noticing how Jeno’s hand follows and Jeno wobbles, righting himself and blushing a darker shade of red, too timid to say anything about how any move Donghyuck makes jostles him around too, but apparently brave enough to ask him out on a date. A character, isn’t he? “You sure you can handle all of this for that long?”

“I have for the last half an hour. What’s another 23 and a half?” 

Donghyuck laughs, and he almost feels bad, really, that Jeno has to be handcuffed to _him_, of all people, for that long. “Oh, you sure are naive, huh?” Donghyuck wonders if Jeno will make it out alive—in hindsight though, maybe Donghyuck should have thought more about himself. Maybe _he_ won’t make it out alive—fat chance if Jeno keeps smiling at him like that. 

“Just hopeful.” Jeno tilts his head to the side, and the sunshine hits him just right, makes his dark eyes glitter this nice warm chocolate color, and oh God, Donghyuck is already falling for him. “So... what do you say? Go on a date with me?”

“Like I have a choice.” Donghyuck arches a brow, but he can’t help smiling, cheeks feeling a little warm, and he holds up his right hand, pointing to the pink metal looped around his wrist. Jeno’s left hand follows and the sparkles catch the light, glinting in Donghyuck’s eyes as he says “You have me for 24 hours. Charm my socks off, Lee Jeno.” 

☼

And _ Jeno _ —Jeno does the one thing Donghyuck doubted he could actually do. Jeno actually _ does _ charm him, and he does it _ easily _, really, it’s embarrassing how easy it was for Jeno. Donghyuck always thought he would put up a good fight against boys like Jeno. But Jeno got him too, didn’t he? 

People stare at them, sure, you know, handcuffs—_ pink _ handcuffs—have a way of attracting attention, arched brows and concerned looks, but some students actually look at them with some sympathy, so maybe projects like Jaemin’s are more common than Donghyuck first thought. The project though, it’s actually not that bad, if Donghyuck has a say in it. It’s actually a little easier than he thought it would be—you know, being around Jeno. 

And the date—if Donghyuck can actually call it that in his head without his cheeks turning red—the date is not half bad, not bad at all, actually. 

They’re both broke college students, so they don’t actually really do much—not that they _ can _, really, with the handcuffs and all. It feels like a normal day, really, and they do things Donghyuck would do on the daily—things like walking to the coffee shop on the far east corner of campus, and ordering take out for a lazy night in, and building a blanket fort in Donghyuck’s living room and pirating an episode of the sports anime Donghyuck has been catching up on. It shouldn’t feel special, but Jeno has a way of making simple things, things that Donghyuck is already so used to, feel a little different, a little more intimate. 

Jaemin comes home as the third episode is loading, and Donghyuck thinks he’s probably going to ask them questions, take notes for his project and all. But Jaemin only takes one look at them, both changed into pajama pants—Donghyuck would have told Jeno to change his shirt too, but you know, _ handcuffs _ —Jeno’s head on Donghyuck’s shoulder and the backs of their hands touching, and he walks to his room. But Donghyuck has known Jaemin long enough to _ feel _ his facial expressions, and he can feel the smirk on his face, and Donghyuck shouts at him to wipe that smirk off of his face just as Jaemin closes his door. 

Jeno only giggles and presses play. 

Donghyuck falls asleep sometime into the fourth episode and he wakes to Jeno struggling to move him. 

“Jeno?” Donghyuck mumbles, closing his eyes again before he sits up. “What time is it?” 

“Probably close to 3 AM.” Jeno hums, turning to shut down Donghyuck’s laptop and place it on the table. “Sorry for waking you up. I was trying to pick you up so I could carry you to your bed, but—”

Donghyuck laughs, warmth filling his chest at the thought of Jeno trying to carry him to his bed, and Donghyuck completes Jeno’s sentence for him “Handcuffs?” 

Jeno smiles, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes, “Yeah.”

“It’s alright. Now you don’t have to break your back trying to drag me to my room.” Donghyuck drapes the blanket across his shoulder and takes a hold of Jeno’s hand. “Come on, dork, let’s go to bed.”

“Uh, how will we—”

Donghyuck hides a smile, not bothering to look back at Jeno as he drags him into his bedroom, “We’re going to have to share the bed, you know, if that’s okay with you.”

Jeno nods, and Donghyuck doesn’t turn on the light, but he can see how red Jeno’s cheeks turn, and it makes him grow infinitely more fond. “That’s okay.”

Donghyuck bites back a smile as they face each other, covers drawn to their shoulders and nothing but the moonlight to light the room, but Jeno catches it anyway, and it makes him laugh, low and breathy, and Donghyuck thinks he likes it when Jeno laughs like that. 

(He likes a lot about Jeno, really, but Donghyuck has a lot of pride, and admitting that he’s so smitten after a day is a lot for his ego to take.)

Donghyuck presses the back of his hand against Jeno’s for a moment. “Goodnight, Jeno.”

“Goodnight, Donghyuck.”

And if they fall asleep holding hands, that’s something only the moon can prove. 

☼

Donghyuck wakes up to sunlight, closing his hands into fists to rub his eyes by habit, but his right hand is weighed down, and realization hits Donghyuck like a slap upside the head. The handcuffs. _ Lee Jeno _. He’s still handcuffed to him, isn’t he? Donghyuck has half the mind to shout for Jaemin, but he doesn’t really want to wake Jeno up and have to face him already, so Donghyuck blindly feels around his nightstand for his phone, but instead he feels cold metal and a slip of paper at his fingertips. 

Donghyuck scoffs. 

A matching sparkly pink key and a note. 

_ Looks like someone got real cozy with Jeno, huh? I’ll be at the library if you need me. _

_ P.S I’m waiting for my “Thank you, Jaemin.” _

That bastard. 

“Jeno?” Donghyuck shakes Jeno’s shoulder, inching the covers down until he can see more than just a mop of brown hair. Jeno stirs once the lights hits his face, nose scrunched up and hair a mess. Donghyuck smiles, still finding Jeno cute although he probably drooled on his pillows. “Are you awake?” 

Donghyuck holds the key in between his fingers, “I think our 24 hours are up.” 

“Huh?” Jeno asks, half asleep and blinking to clear his eyes. It takes a minute, a little stretching and more blinking, but Jeno wakes completely, sitting up and running a hand through his bed hair. Jeno puts on his glasses, looks from the pink key to the handcuffs still on his and Donghyuck’s wrists, and his face seems to fall a little. “Oh.” 

Donghyuck doesn’t say anything.

Jeno takes the key and frees his own hand first, rubbing his wrist in silence after placing the key back in Donghyuck’s hand. 

A moment passes, and Donghyuck bites at his nails. 

“Does that mean I can go to the bathroom by myself?” Jeno asks suddenly. Donghyuck snorts, and he nods, pointing to the door down the hall and nodding for Jeno to go. And Jeno, like the dork he is, blinks, thinking for a second, and he’s up and he almost falls off of the bed running to it, slowing down at Donghyuck’s door as if he remembered that Donghyuck can see him, and mumbling a calm “Cool. Uh—I’ll be back.” 

And Donghyuck waits, freeing himself from the handcuffs and spinning them around his finger until Jeno comes back. 

“Hey, Donghyuck?” Jeno says as he walks back into the room. He looks like he doesn’t know if he’s allowed to come closer, so he just stands in the middle of Donghyuck’s room and rubs his nape, hesitant and looking a little out of his element as he slowly rocks back and forth on his feet. “I had a really good time with you.”

Donghyuck balls his hands into his comforter, heart feeling like it’s going to jump right of his chest. Donghyuck is good at a lot of things, but he’s really, really bad at talking to boys who look like Jeno—boys who _ are _Jeno, so he only nods and mumbles out a soft “Me too.”

And Jeno starts slowly backing out of the room, “Uh, so, see you around?” 

But it doesn’t _ feel _ right to just say bye like this—to shut Jeno out of his dorm, and out of his _ life _ , really, after the day they had. Donghyuck had a good time with Jeno, a really, really good time with him. And something like that, like _ this, _ is hard to find. 

“Wait, Jeno.” Donghyuck calls out, and Jeno looks back at him, listening with rapt attention that makes Donghyuck feel important, like what he’s going to say is important. And it’s not much, really, it’s bare minimum, but it makes Donghyuck’s cheeks grow warm—it happens a lot around Jeno, huh? “I—Uh, I was wondering if you’d like to hang out again.” 

Jeno sits at the edge of Donghyuck’s bed, this shy, timid look on his face. “Hang out?”

Donghyuck really wants to kiss him. 

“Something like that. You know?” Donghyuck coughs, clearing his throat and trying again, “Like, uh, if you’d like to go on a date with me tonight.” 

Jeno doesn’t say anything, and for a second, Donghyuck wonders if he’s read all the signs wrong and if he’s crossed the line, but he’s already here, isn’t he? Donghyuck looks away, down at the pink handcuffs on his bed, and a small smile grows on his lips. “You know, maybe not for 24 hours, and without the handcuffs, but uh, you know, yeah?” 

Donghyuck still doesn’t look up, not until he feels Jeno moving, the mattress dipping under his weight as he stretches across Donghyuck’s bed like a cat. Jeno’s hands slide under Donghyuck’s comforter, the soft cotton bunching up to pillow his face, and he looks up at Donghyuck from under his lashes with this look in his eyes. 

It looks a little like hope.

The morning sun shines through Donghyuck’s window and hits the tops of Jeno’s cheeks just right, just enough to make him look like he’s glowing. And Jeno’s smile is brilliant, warm and genuine, and all the things that Donghyuck likes in a person.

“Really?” Jeno crosses his arms and falls back into Donghyuck’s pillows, cheeks red against cotton white. “Like a second date?” 

“Yeah. That.” Donghyuck nods simply, mirroring Jeno’s position and shoving his face back into a pillow to hide his warm cheeks. “A second date.” 

Call Donghyuck a hopeless romantic, but Donghyuck thinks that maybe, just maybe, he’s already fallen for Jeno. 

“Okay.” Jeno says, and Donghyuck can hear the smile in his voice. Donghyuck moves his pillow and looks up just in time to catch the way Jeno is looking at him.

(Maybe Jeno has fallen for him, too).

And the morning passes like this: sleeping in a little longer, until Donghyuck’s air conditioning cuts off and the room becomes too hot, a breakfast shared, soft smiles and loud laughter. Jeno stands in the dormitory hallway at noon, smiling with his hands in his pockets as Donghyuck runs back to his room to find Jeno’s hoodie. 

Jeno slips the hoodie on, looking like the boyfriend that Donghyuck has dreamed about, and he hums, “So… ”

Donghyuck crosses his arms, smiling a little as he waits for Jeno to find the right words, and he’s already so fond of Jeno, isn’t he? “So?”

A moment passes, and Jeno doesn’t say anything. Donghyuck laughs a little under his breath, feeling like maybe he’s forgetting something, like maybe _ he _should say something. Jeno is just a little braver, though, maybe, less thinking, more doing, and he drags Donghyuck in by his t-shirt, pressing a soft kiss on his lips. 

Jeno backs away slowly, so completely nonchalant as he presses the elevator button. Smug bastard, Donghyuck thinks, smooth, dreamy bastard. “See you tonight?”

Donghyuck nods, blinking, and Donghyuck knows he’s probably blushing like a schoolgirl, holding a hand up to his lips, but if his bright red cheeks make Jeno smile like that, Donghyuck will take one for the team. “It’s a date.”

** _Lee Jeno _ ** _ 1m ago_

_ 8 pm. Charm my socks off, Lee Donghyuck. _

**Author's Note:**

> first time posting a nohyuck..idk... kinda nervous..please tell me what you think! i will not beg i will only ask 6 times  
[twitter](https://twitter.com/duckjaem) | [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/boyeater)


End file.
